Best Birthday Present Ever!

 Next to my family, my Bible is my most treasured possession. It was given to us as a Christmas gift, the second Christmas after we were married, by my parents. It is a black leather New American Standard Bible. And that is the basic information.

But there is so much, much more.

All the memories it contains. This scribble was done by a 1-year old Julie who got hold of a pen, and I wouldn't trade that page for anything.

This is the inscription from Christmas 1972, which I love because seeing my Mom's handwriting warms my heart each time.

This particular Bible became 'mine' as the insurance man prefers King James version and has a brown leather one for his purposes. This Bible is so marked up with underlines in various colors, stars, scribbles, notes and tears. As the beloved Bible began to show it's age I chose to ignore it, continuing to use it daily but finally gave up on taking it on trips with me. The binding separated from the pages and was hanging by a few threads on the left side. The insurance man urged me to find a bookbinder on line and send it in for repairs. There were three things wrong with this idea to my mind. First, I couldn't bear to part with it for the months it would take. Second, I didn't want to trust it to the postal service to get it there and back. And thirdly, I didn't want to pay the cost, as I knew it would be expensive. So, I just kept ignoring the problems with a pang of guilt every time I opened it.

Last week was my birthday, and the insurance man came in for lunch holding my Bible and looking like the cat that just ate the canary (Cheshire grin). I asked why he had my Bible, and started to worry that I had left it at church. He laid it on the table, and said no I hadn't left it anywhere. Due to being extra busy, I had been reading from the Pilgrim Prayers in the mornings and had not missed my Bible. He had quietly taken it and had the binding all fixed locally in three days, and it only cost $30! What a surprise, and what a delight. That was truly the best birthday present I ever had. And a complete surprise, not easy to accomplish!